Sally Field shares stories of personal life, accomplishments at luncheon

One of America's most accomplished actresses took center stage at the Methodist Hospital Cancer Center Luncheon Friday.

Sally Field wowed a luncheon crowd at the Peabody Hotel.

Field won an Oscar nomination for her role in "Lincoln", just the latest evidence that she is a fighter.

(WMC-TV) - One of America's most accomplished actresses took center stage at the Methodist Hospital Cancer Center Luncheon Friday. Sally Field shared stories about her amazing career.

It started on TV with "Gidget and The Flying Nun" and through hard work and a lot of "chutzpah" led her to Oscar winning movie performances in "Norma Rae" and "Places in the Heart".

Sally Field wowed a luncheon crowd at the Peabody Hotel, revealing that she had to fight for her recent role as Lincoln's wife in Steven Speilberg's blockbuster film.

"When you find something you connect with that deeply, you have to reach for it with all your might and risk life and limb," she said.

Field won the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, but it took two screen tests and repeated appeals to Spielberg to win the part.

"It was actually the first time I had done anything like that," she explained.

Field won an Oscar nomination for her role in "Lincoln," just the latest evidence that she is a fighter.

She fought for respect in Hollywood after her "Gidget" and "Flying Nun" days of the 1960s, and even after a stellar career in her prime that produced two best actress Oscars, Fields fights now for roles for mature women.

"There are not a lot of roles for women anyway, certainly not women of age. So you have to fight for 'em," she said.

Some of Sally Field's biggest roles have been playing southern women: Forrest Gump's momma and her role in "Steel Magnolias," just to name a few.

Fields studies southern dialect with a passion.

"Texas is very different from Alabama. All the accents are very different," she said.

The star remembers where she was 50 years ago Friday, rehearsing for her senior high school play, "The Miracle Worker", when the news came that the President Kennedy had been shot.

"We all stood holding hands just shocked because it absolutely slammed into my generation," she said.

Highway Patrol troopers say they are searching for a 2001– 2005 Silver Toyota Sequoia or 2004 – 2005 Toyota Tundra with damage to right front headlight assembly and missing right side mirror. (Source: SCHP)

The South Carolina Highway Patrol is asking for the community’s help in locating a vehicle that was involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash Monday night in Hopkins.